Gae Polisner's Blog, page 10

THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO - The Karma or Coincidence? Countdown (Alissa Grosso)

THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO , my second novel for young adults, is officially OUT! But our Karma or Coincidence Countdown continues through tomorrow, today with my dear friend and Class of 2K11 cohort, Alissa Grosso, who I was lucky enough to see just this past weekend at NYC Teen Author Festival.


In case you don't yet know. . .

THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO tells the story of almost-16-yr-old Francesca “Beans” “Frankie” Schnell who, four years ago witnessed her baby brother, Simon, drown. Guilty and broken, Francesca has hunkered down in the shadows of her life, resolved to play second fiddle to her dead brother’s memory and to her best friend Lisette, a blonde bubbly beauty Francesca lives vicariously through. That is, until she meets a young boy named Frankie Sky who bears an uncanny resemblance to her brother. Frankie brings humor and hope to Francesca’s life, but are all the similarities between Frankie and Simon merely wishful coincidences, or could he be Simon’s reincarnation?

Curious coincidences abound in THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO —not only the overlaps between Simon and Frankie Sky, but also Bradley’s gift to Francesca, Bradley’s bird sighting, and the ties to the statue of  Saint Florian (you'll have to read to know what these are ;)). Midway through the story Francesca starts to think these events can’t really be coincidences, “but something bigger and magical at work.”

Have you ever experienced strange events that seemed like more than coincidence and made you wonder if fate was at work or that soul and/or reincarnation exist?

Throughout the month, I decided to pose that question to friends, some writers, others bearing other artistic talents, for a brief account of their own experience with karma, kismet or a mystical connection. I leave you to answer the question,  “Random or something magical at work?” 

I hope you find these stories as intriguing and lovely as I do.

- gae


Today I have the lovely Alissa Grosso, author of Popular, Ferocity Summer, and Shallow Pond. I love how she tries to humor me here by coming up with a story for this blog feature.

p.s. Alissa, I'm not sure I believe in ghosts or reincarnation either. But I'm always thinking, "ooh, that seems like some magical karmic connection!"


Lovely Alissa.  I don't like to go into my attic at night
When Gae asked for guest posts on reincarnation and related stuff, I was faced with a bit of a dilemma. On the one hand I wanted to help Gae out because I like her and she's good people. On the other hand, how could I write about something I don't believe in? It's not just reincarnation I have an issue with, but any sort of pseudoscience type thing that exists there at the fringes. Not quite the same thing as reincarnation, but sort of in the same vein is the idea of ghosts.
I consider myself a rational person, have even at times been labeled a skeptic. I don't entirely believe that ghosts exist. It isn't logical. Science can do some pretty amazing things, so it seems they would have figured out this whole ghost thing by now if ghosts were real. Plus there's the fact that I've never seen a ghost, not a single one. I worked in a restored historic village for years. I live in a town that is supposedly built on top of a Native American burial ground and according to locals who are "experts" in such things the whole town is haunted. I mean if ghosts really exist, I should have seen one by now, right?

I don't believe in ghosts, not really, anyway. Except, when I have to go up into my attic at night I get spooked out. So, all you ghost-believing, psychic-believing, reincarnation-believing people I find you utterly incomprehensible. In fact, you are about as incomprehensible as the heebie jeebies that come over me when I venture up my attic stairs after sunset.
- Alissa

The Summer of Letting Go Karma or Coincidence? Countdown (Kristen Taber)

If you've read this intro already, you can skip right down to the guest post!
THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO , my second novel for young adults, is now OFFICIALLY OUT!!! But the end of the March Countdown continues. I'll do a blog post soon on my really amazing book release.

THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO tells the story of almost-16-yr-old Francesca “Beans” “Frankie” Schnell who, four years ago witnessed her baby brother, Simon, drown. Guilty and broken, Francesca has hunkered down in the shadows of her life, resolved to play second fiddle to her dead brother’s memory and to her best friend Lisette, a blonde bubbly beauty Francesca lives vicariously through. That is, until she meets a young boy named Frankie Sky who bears an uncanny resemblance to her brother. Frankie brings humor and hope to Francesca’s life, but are all the similarities between Frankie and Simon merely wishful coincidences, or could he be Simon’s reincarnation?

Curious coincidences abound in THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO —not only the overlaps between Simon and Frankie Sky, but also Bradley’s gift to Francesca, Bradley’s bird sighting, and the ties to the statue of  Saint Florian (you'll have to read to know what these are ;)). Midway through the story Francesca starts to think these events can’t really all just be coincidences, but maybe are “something bigger and magical at work.”

Have you ever experienced strange events that seemed like more than coincidence and made you wonder if fate was at work or that soul and or reincarnation exist?

Throughout the month, I've decided to pose that question to friends, some writers, others bearing other artistic talents, for a brief account of their own experience with karma, kismet or a mystical connection. I leave you to answer the question,  “Karma or coincidence? Random or something magical at work?” 

- gae

This is Kristen. She's lovely, isn't she?

Today I have writer Kristen Taber sharing a pretty remarkable story.

Kristen is the author of the AErenden Series. Book # in the series, THE ZEIIHBU MASTER, releases this month!

Here's Kristen:

From my earliest days, coincidences have peppered my life—a missed bus allowing me to meet a new friend, a job loss sending my career in a better direction, a chance conversation with a stranger giving me information I would soon need. Although appreciated, many of these moments have been easy to brush off as simple life twists. But others have left me wondering, and questioning my life’s direction.
In 2009, one series of coincidences set me on the path I walk now. I’d been suffering severe headaches and dizzy spells. My blood work came back fine, so my doctor decided I suffered from stress and prescribed anti-depressants to help. The second day I took them, the left side of my body went numb and my coworkers rushed me to the hospital on my doctor’s recommendation. A suspected stroke diagnosis pushed me through the system, but what they found on my MRI surprised everyone. I had two brain aneurysms. My neurologist later told me I would likely have been dead within 10 years if they hadn’t caught them. He told me it was lucky I had a rare side effect to the medication.
Fast forward two months. My lymph nodes felt enlarged and I saw my family doctor again. Because he felt bad about missing the aneurysms, he decided to be overcautious with my newest symptom and sent me for an ultrasound. It showed two suspicious nodes on my thyroid. Although a fine needle biopsy came back negative, the radiologist performing the procedure said it reacted like cancer and would not accept the lab results as accurate. He scheduled me for surgery.
The surgeon told me that most suspicious nodes come back negative and the only time he would worry is if Dr. Smith* had done the biopsy. Apparently Dr. Smith is considered a “cancer savant” by hospital staff and, you guessed it, he was the one who performed my biopsy. The ultrasounds facility had 10 rotating doctors on staff. By slim luck, I got the one doctor who recognized my cancer when the others likely would have sent me home as “safe”. Final lab results confirmed his suspicions.  We're glad you're okay! 
My endocrinologist said I was fortunate my family doctor had been overcautious. The odds of beating thyroid cancer are small once it metastasizes.

It’s hard not to believe someone somewhere was looking out for me that year—even if it was just a drug manufacturer, my nervous doctor, the person who scheduled my biopsy, and a rare Radiologist. 
Thanks to them and those few months, I started writing again. The cliché is true. Life is too short not to do what you love. I found my old love again and set my life back on course—a life granted to me by a series of lucky coincidences. 
- Kristen


Please check out THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO and all of Kristen's books, and if you'd like, please share your own karma or coincidence story in the comments!

The Summer of Letting Go Karma or Coincidence? Countdown (Ian T. Healy)

As some of you may know,  THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO , my second novel for young adults comes out March 25th from Algonquin Young Readers.


THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO tells the story of almost-16-yr-old Francesca “Beans” “Frankie” Schnell who, four years ago witnessed her baby brother, Simon, drown. Guilty and broken, Francesca has hunkered down in the shadows of her life, resolved to play second fiddle to her dead brother’s memory and to her best friend Lisette, a blonde bubbly beauty Francesca lives vicariously through. That is, until she meets a young boy named Frankie Sky who bears an uncanny resemblance to her brother. Frankie brings humor and hope to Francesca’s life, but are all the similarities between Frankie and Simon merely wishful coincidences, or could he be Simon’s reincarnation?

Curious coincidences abound in THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO —not only the overlaps between Simon and Frankie Sky, but also Bradley’s gift to Francesca, Bradley’s bird sighting, and the ties to the statue of  Saint Florian (you'll have to read to know what these are ;)). Midway through the story Francesca starts to think these events can’t really be coincidences, “but something bigger and magical at work.”

Have you ever experienced strange events that seemed like more than coincidence and made you wonder if fate was at work or that soul and or reincarnation exist?

Throughout the month, I've decided to pose that question to friends, some writers, others bearing other artistic talents, for a brief account of their own experience with karma, kismet or a mystical connection. I leave you to answer the question,  “Karma or coincidence? Random or something magical at work?” 

- gae

Today I have writer Ian T. Healy, author of the  Just Cause Universe series of superherofiction, including  JACKRABBIT , which releases in print and ebook versions worldwideon April 1, 2014. Ian puts a twist on a theme by talking about how much fate, if any, is involved in love. . . 

Love at First Sight
Love at first sight is a terribly overused cliché, but I do think it can happen to anyone once in a lifetime, and this was mine. We met by chance in high school, during a convention that only lasted two days. She lived far away. She had a boyfriend. I had a girlfriend. And yet, we both found something in those two days that couldn't easily be explained or forgotten.
Call it what you will. Call it puppy love or a fling or whatever, but this was Love in the Time of No Internet. We burned through hundreds of stamps, sending letters back and forth, making the sort of great romantic plans that teenagers do. All the while, we each lived our own lives, with our own relationships, remaining each others' pipe dreams. We graduated high school and went off to different colleges, and still the letters flowed back and forth. And then she transferred to my school. She wound up in the dorm room directly above mine. What are the odds, right? She was in one of my classes. The letters stopped due to proximity, but somehow the love we felt as kids never blossomed into anything more.
Over the years, we still ran into each other in the most unlikely of places. We talked about it, and have talked about it at length. I was never much for the guiding hand of Fate, because I am a firm believer in free will. But if there is such a thing, the Universe has expended a lot of energy and effort to push us together, and if that can give anyone hope for their own stories, may it be an inspiration.
- Ian
Please check out The Summer of Letting Go and all of Ian's books! Thanks for reading. 

THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO - Karma or Coincidence? Countdown (Leslie Pietryzk)

As many of you know,  THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO , my second novel for young adults officially comes out this TUESDAY (3/25) from Algonquin Young Readers.

THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO tells the story of almost-16-yr-old Francesca “Beans” “Frankie” Schnell who, four years ago witnessed her baby brother, Simon, drown. Guilty and broken, Francesca has hunkered down in the shadows of her life, resolved to play second fiddle to her dead brother’s memory and to her best friend Lisette, a blonde bubbly beauty Francesca lives vicariously through. That is, until she meets a young boy named Frankie Sky who bears an uncanny resemblance to her brother. Frankie brings humor and hope to Francesca’s life, but are all the similarities between Frankie and Simon merely wishful coincidences, or could he be Simon’s reincarnation?

Curious coincidences abound in THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO —not only the overlaps between Simon and Frankie Sky, but also Bradley’s gift to Francesca, Bradley’s bird sighting, and the ties to the statue of  Saint Florian (sorry, you'll have to read to know what these are ;)). Midway through the story Francesca starts to think these events can’t really all be coincidences,  but maybe are “something bigger and magical at work.”

Have you ever experienced strange events that seemed like more than just coincidence and made you wonder if fate was at work or that soul and/or reincarnation exist?

Throughout the month, I've decided to pose that question to friends, some writers, others bearing other artistic talents, for a brief account of their own experience with karma, kismet or a mystical connection. I leave you to answer the question,  “Karma or Coincidence? Random or something magical at work?” 

I hope you find these stories as intriguing and lovely as I do.

- gae

Today I have Leslie Pietryzk, author of Pears on a Willow Tree, about four generations of Polish-American women, and A Year and a Day, about a 15-year-old girl whose mother commits suicide. 

Love this sweet story of a black cat working some magic. . .

My first husband didn’t like cats. At all. His mother was even afraid of them, so he had grown up not trusting them. I had grown up with a cranky but highly-beloved black cat, notorious in the neighborhood for his hunting skills. 


           My husband and I are living in a patio-style apartment complex in the Phoenix area while he goes to graduate school. The phone rings on Sunday afternoon: our family black cat back home is at death’s door. Much, much sobbing ensues and comforting words are spoken with one eye still on the textbook relevant to tomorrow’s exam.
            A sad dinner is pieced together.            From outside our apartment: “Meow, meow, meow.”            Washing dishes:  “Meow, meow, meow.”            Standing on the balcony, looking out:  “Meow, meow, meow.”
            I can’t stand it and bolt out the door, run down the stairs, calling, “Kitty, kitty, kitty?” into the dark.
            Silence.  And then a half-grown, scrawny black cat with too-big ears crawls out from under the stairs and peers up at me as if I am the only answer to a prayer.  “Meow, meow, meow.”
            I grab the leftover chicken breast that is for our dinner tomorrow and pull off chunks to lure the little cat up the open stairs that it’s afraid of and into our safe apartment. My husband sees that black cat and immediately knows there is no way this cat will be sent out into the scary night tonight, not with my family cat dying back in Iowa.  He sighs.  “But you’re putting up signs tomorrow to find an owner,” he said.  “Of course,” I agreed.
            Two days later, he comes home from the grocery store with an expensive toy for “Kitty.” Kitty becomes a member of the family from then on: a loving, but incredibly shy little fellow. Friends and family barely see this cat and make jokes about its existence.
            Ten years later this husband dies, and there are many times during those long, awful days and nights where only the cat understands what I’m feeling.
            Eventually, I start dating, and one night I’m cooking dinner for the first time for a new guy, one who is smart, with an adorable way of winking at the exact right moment. He doesn’t like cats either, but I assure him, “Believe me, you won’t even see this cat.”
            We’re sitting on the couch, drinking some wine, and Kitty strolls in, jumps up on the sofa and cozies in between us, eyes slitted as if keeping up with our conversation.  “I guess he likes me,” this new man says. 


magical black cat? 

            This is the man who cries when we have to take Kitty to the vet for that last time.  This is the man I marry a few years later.
- Leslie           Please check out Leslie's books and remember to check out THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO!

The Summer of Letting Go: Karma or Coincidence? Countdown (Robert Leland Taylor)

If you've read this intro before, skip down to Robert's post. Enjoy!
As some of you may know,  THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO , my second novel for young adults comes out March 25th from Algonquin Young Readers.


THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO tells the story of almost-16-yr-old Francesca “Beans” “Frankie” Schnell who, four years ago witnessed her baby brother, Simon, drown. Guilty and broken, Francesca has hunkered down in the shadows of her life, resolved to play second fiddle to her dead brother’s memory and to her best friend Lisette, a blonde bubbly beauty Francesca lives vicariously through. That is, until she meets a young boy named Frankie Sky who bears an uncanny resemblance to her brother. Frankie brings humor and hope to Francesca’s life, but are all the similarities between Frankie and Simon merely wishful coincidences, or could he be Simon’s reincarnation?

Curious coincidences abound in THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO —not only the overlaps between Simon and Frankie Sky, but also Bradley’s gift to Francesca, Bradley’s bird sighting, and the ties to the statue of  Saint Florian (you'll have to read to know what these are ;)). Midway through the story Francesca starts to think these events can’t really be coincidences, “but something bigger and magical at work.”

Have you ever experienced strange events that seemed like more than coincidence and made you wonder if fate was at work or that soul and or reincarnation exist?

Throughout the month, I've decided to pose that question to friends, some writers, others bearing other artistic talents, for a brief account of their own experience with karma, kismet or a mystical connection. I leave you to answer the question,  “Random or something magical at work?” 

- gae


Today I have friend (and talented writer and artist!), Robert Leland Taylor (one of the kookiest, funniest guys I have the pleasure to know.

If you'd like to follow him on twitter or like him on facebook, there you go!)

He's the author of Holy Toledo and the Virgin Shirley.

Here he is with the story of a telltale sewer. Of course he is.



I felt guilty about receiving letters from an ex-girlfriend during my first marriage, but did so anyway. She'd written them all on pink stationery and mailed them to the store I managed, to insure privacy. But, like an idiot, I took them home, hid them in the bottom drawer of my desk.
Then one day they came up missing—all of them—probably seven or eight.
The next few days were torture. I knew who took them, my wife knew I knew who took them, yet neither of us said a word to each other.
The following Sunday I climbed into the car to go to work. It was a beautiful day, bright and clear after days of incessant thunderstorms. The car wouldn't start. So I headed off on-foot toward the store, five bocks away.  About halfway there I stopped in my tracks—a nearby sewer was heaving noisily, bringing up a soggy mix that included pink stationery with hand-written lines.

Yes, they were the very same lines missing from my desk drawer.

Looks like a plain old sewer. . . or is it?
That evening I found the courage to face my wife. “I'm sorry,” I said.
She nodded, smiled pensively. We held each other, feeling a tremendous weight lifting, our lives on track once again.
She told me she'd flushed the letters down the toilet one page at a time the same day she found them. My eyes were the first to see them when they re-emerged. Coincidence? Maybe. But when you consider the odds...
- Robert

Please check out Robert's book and order or buy your copy of THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO today, popping up on bookshelves everywhere.

THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO Karma or Coincidence? Countdown (Susan Petrone)

Yeah, yeah, if you've read this intro already, just scroll down to Susan's post... 
As many of you know,  THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO , my second novel for young adults officially comes out March 25th from Algonquin Young Readers.

THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO tells the story of almost-16-yr-old Francesca “Beans” “Frankie” Schnell who, four years ago witnessed her baby brother, Simon, drown. Guilty and broken, Francesca has hunkered down in the shadows of her life, resolved to play second fiddle to her dead brother’s memory and to her best friend Lisette, a blonde bubbly beauty Francesca lives vicariously through. That is, until she meets a young boy named Frankie Sky who bears an uncanny resemblance to her brother. Frankie brings humor and hope to Francesca’s life, but are all the similarities between Frankie and Simon merely wishful coincidences, or could he be Simon’s reincarnation?

Curious coincidences abound in THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO —not only the overlaps between Simon and Frankie Sky, but also Bradley’s gift to Francesca, Bradley’s bird sighting, and the ties to the statue of  Saint Florian (sorry, you'll have to read to know what these are ;)). Midway through the story Francesca starts to think these events can’t really all just be coincidences, but maybe are “something bigger and magical at work.”

Have you ever experienced strange events that seemed like more than coincidence and made you wonder if fate was at work or that soul and or reincarnation exist?

Throughout the month, I've decided to pose that question to friends, some writers, others bearing other artistic talents, for a brief account of their own experience with karma, kismet or a mystical connection. I leave you to answer the question,  “Karma or coincidence? Random or something more magical at work?” 

I hope you find these stories as intriguing and lovely as I do.
- gae

Writer and baseball fan. 
Today I have writer friend Susan Petrone,
author of A Body at Rest  and many short stories including
Monster Jones Wants to Creep You Out (Conclave Journal 2010) which was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

She also co-authors the Cleveland Indians' blog for ESPN.com's SweetSpot network and is a regular contributor to Cool Cleveland. Oh, and she's co-author, with author-pal and really nice guy Michael Sullivan, of the brand new Sock Kids series, fiction for kids that goes through the spin cycle (I just made that last tagline part up).

Here's Susan's story:

This is what you need to know about my mother for this story to make any
sense: She was kinder and gentler than probably anyone you know. She was
also a hobby printer (I have her old printing press), the one-time owner
of a used bookstore, and the manager of a college bookstore. Yes, we were
kind of a bookish family.

She was diagnosed with lung cancer on September 12, 2001, (remember that
day? I have some vague memory of some important happening the day before.)
The cancer had already metastasized to her brain; she was gone six months
later. (I feel compelled to add that no, she never smoked. But she grew up
within spitting and smelling distance of the steel mills of Youngstown and
married a man who smoked two packs a day back when people still smoked at
the dinner table with their kids around. But I digress.)

My mom was also my most cherished friend. Towards the end, we said that
there was nothing left unsaid between us but that we were never at a loss
for words.

In the last few days of her life, she stopped eating and was in what the
Tibetan Book of the Dead calls the "Bardo"--the place between life and death.
Saint John of God by Murillo (1672)It was as though she had already entered that last peaceful sleep. My five siblings and I privately wondered when "It" would happen--when she would choose to go. Mom had a birthday calendar that not only had anniversaries and birthdays of friends and family but things like the date when her muse, Thomas Merton, entered the monastery. Things happened to her on significant dates.

There came a point, about six weeks before she died, when she couldn't stay in her garden apartment. There was no elevator, and the doorways were too narrow to accommodate a walker or, eventually, a wheelchair. She moved to and died at a nursing home run by Little Sisters of the Poor. 

She died on the evening of March 8th, with all of her children and sons- and daughters-in-law around her. The nuns at the nursing home (who are saints on earth, every last one of them--don't let anyone tell you different) said that March 8 was a special day because it is the Feast of St. John of
God. He's the patron of hospitals and their order holds him very dear.

That seemed nice but I didn’t think much of it until a couple weeks later,
when I met my sister’s at my mom’s apartment to start going through her
things. I was the first one there and wandered around the material
possessions she had left behind, wondering where she had gone, talking to
her, crying my eyes out. I noticed a small, slightly worn copy of Lives of
the Saints sitting on top of one of the bookcases. I'm not sure why or how
it got there. Nobody had been in her apartment for a while--she hadn't
lived there for nearly two months. But I picked it up and turned to March
8, which was indeed the feast of St. John of God, patron saint of
hospitals. And of printers. And booksellers.

After the chills left my spine, the world seemed much clearer and some of
the pain from her death lifted. She is still there. I can still talk to
her. I just need to listen more quietly for the answer.

- Susan

Please check out THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO,  A BODY AT REST and the Sock Kids series, and share your story in the comments if you'd like to! 

THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO Karma or Coincidence? Countdown (Amy Ferris)

For Pete's sake, if you've read this intro already, just scroll down to Amy's breathtaking post! 
As many of you know,  THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO , my second novel for young adults officially comes out March 25th from Algonquin Young Readers.

THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO tells the story of almost-16-yr-old Francesca “Beans” “Frankie” Schnell who, four years ago witnessed her baby brother, Simon, drown. Guilty and broken, Francesca has hunkered down in the shadows of her life, resolved to play second fiddle to her dead brother’s memory and to her best friend Lisette, a blonde bubbly beauty Francesca lives vicariously through. That is, until she meets a young boy named Frankie Sky who bears an uncanny resemblance to her brother. Frankie brings humor and hope to Francesca’s life, but are all the similarities between Frankie and Simon merely wishful coincidences, or could he be Simon’s reincarnation?

Curious coincidences abound in THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO —not only the overlaps between Simon and Frankie Sky, but also Bradley’s gift to Francesca, Bradley’s bird sighting, and the ties to the statue of  Saint Florian (sorry, you'll have to read to know what these are ;)). Midway through the story Francesca starts to think these events can’t really all just be coincidences, but maybe are “something bigger and magical at work.”

Have you ever experienced strange events that seemed like more than coincidence and made you wonder if fate was at work or that soul and or reincarnation exist?

Throughout the month, I've decided to pose that question to friends, some writers, others bearing other artistic talents, for a brief account of their own experience with karma, kismet or a mystical connection. I leave you to answer the question,  “Karma or coincidence? Random or something more magical at work?” 

I hope you find these stories as intriguing and lovely as I do.
- gae


Today I have the stunning, glorious, amazing Amy Ferris (can you tell that I dig her?).

Amy is the author of the poignant and hilarious Marrying George Clooney, Confessions from a Midlife Crisis, and co-editor of Dancing at the Shame Prom, which is making its way up my must-read list so not-fast-enough.

Amy's breathtaking story completely breaks my "make it brief" rules, but there's not a sentence I could cut, so I share it with you in all its Amyesque glory.

Gary didn’t much believe in the afterlife.He didn’t.He wasn’t a spiritual type.He didn't believe much in coincidences.He played the stock market, and often described events and people in ‘market’ terms.He believed in living in the moment, being completely and utterly true to his word, and living life fully. He was cool and sexy and rode a motorcycle, and owned a hugely successful bar (actually two) in New York City and had a bunch of young and sexy girlfriends - as in ‘gold bullion digging’ young, sexy girls - who didn’t have a clue how lucky they were that they were with him, because, well, he had a wonderful big gigantic heart. They didn’t care much about that because what they saw was the long hair, and the sexy face, and the gorgeous eyes, and the Harley Davidson that was parked outside the Bar, and of course, they saw the Bar with the cash register that went ca-ching, ca-ching, ca-ching, ca-ching every single minute on every single night, particularly on Friday and Saturday nights when you couldn’t even get into the Bar because it was so crowded. I asked him once, while a few young sexily clad women were draped all over him, what it felt like to be Mick Jagger, he said, “Good, real fucking good. This pays dividends.”
Gary died in a motorcycle accident. But before he died in a motorcycle accident, he went to the Caribbean, where his boat capsized and he was all alone, literally, in the middle of the ocean, clinging to both his life for four days, and a new found God, and it appeared that God found him, and he, Gary, said he remembered so much while his skin was literally baking in the sun: every nuance of his life flashed in front of him. He begged for forgiveness, he screamed at injustice, he wept at his horrible relationship with his parents, he was pissed at himself that he let the one girl he loved get away, he was out-loud livid that two of his close friends screwed him out of money, he was grateful that he could build a bar, and refurbish all the rooms in his gorgeous townhouse with his bare hands, he was deeply appreciative that he was generous and kind and that he truly deeply loved life. And he also, while baking in the sun, remembered that a psychic told him that he would die before he was fifty, and that in fact his death would be categorized as two fold, because he would actually “die twice.”“What fucking bullshit. No one can die twice.”He swore that the psychic ‘broad’ was completely nuts, “a fucking fruitcake.”
So, while he was both clinging to life and the capsized boat, he made a deal with God, to let him live just a little longer so he could make sure that he said good bye properly to all the folks he loved.
He lived just another year or so.

Big and bright sun, public domain. By Allison Breskin. 
And in that year or so he prayed every day to God, he went to church, he became a born-again, he found peace and faith, he gained weight, and met a woman who was close to his age and had some poundage, and one could even categorize her as an Earth Mother, and what was most beautiful about her was in fact her spirit and her laugh and the lines around her eyes. I told him she was the sexiest woman he had ever been with. “Yeah,” he said, “This one’s a triple AAA rating.”
And in that year or so, he managed to tell everyone he loved that he loved them all dearly and with all his heart. And a few folks who screwed him royally, he told them to rethink their lives. And a couple of the girls who draped themselves over him, he managed to tell them to stop hanging on to men, stand tall, and don’t give it away to some schmuck who has a wad of money, and no intent on ever getting married.
He was killed in a motorcycle accident. Coming home from Long Island on one of those long crazy summer weekends.
He would tell you, if he were alive, that yes, that was in fact called two fold, and the first time he died – clinging to life on a capsized boat – that in fact it was he who saved himself, but he gave all the credit to God, because he made a deal, and Gary never reneged on a deal.

THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO Karma or Coincidence? Countdown (Stephen Schwartz)

For Pete's sake, if you've already read this intro ten times, just scroll down to Stephen's post!
As many of you know,  THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO , my second novel for young adults officially comes out March 25th from Algonquin Young Readers.
THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO tells the story of almost-16-yr-old Francesca “Beans” "Frankie” Schnell who, four years ago witnessed her baby brother, Simon, drown. Guilty and broken, Francesca has hunkered down in the shadows of her life,resolved to play second fiddle to her dead brother’s memory and to her best friend Lisette, a blonde bubbly beauty Francesca lives vicariously through. That is, until she meets a young boy named Frankie Sky who bears an uncanny resemblance to her brother. Frankie brings humor and hope to Francesca’s life, but are all the similarities between Frankie and Simon merely wishful coincidences, or could he be Simon’s reincarnation?
Curious coincidences abound in THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO —not only the overlaps between Simon and Frankie Sky, but also Bradley’s gift to Francesca, Bradley’s bird sighting, and the ties to the statue of Saint Florian (sorry, you'll have to read to know what these are ;)). Midway through the story Francesca starts to think these events can’t really all just be coincidences, but maybe are “something bigger and magical at work.”
Have you ever experienced strange events that seemed like more than coincidence and made you wonder if fate was at work or that soul and or reincarnation exist?
Throughout the month, I've decided to pose that question to friends, some writers, others bearing other artistic talents, for a brief account of their own experience with karma, kismet or a mystical connection. I leave you to answer the question,  “Karma or coincidence? Random or something more magical at work?” 
I hope you find these stories as intriguing and lovely as I do.
- gae
This is the face of a man who
loves bunnies. 

Today, I have writer friend Stephen Swartz here, author of "epic fiction" including a YA-appropriate sci-fi trilogy that starts with book one: DREAM LAND. 

Stephen shares a sweet and stormy story of a karmic  (?) tornado that stirred up more than just debris. Enjoy!

I remember when the F5 tornado struck just south of my home last May. 
Following the radar images and calculating my odds as I packed my precious things, I happened to see a new reporter on TV, driving a big storm-chaser vehicle but fleeing the tornado instead of chasing it. I was hooked: the little girl driving the big truck, talking to the camera out of the side of her mouth as she faced forward to watch where she was racing, telling us about the tornado she had encountered.
She wasn’t a little girl, but a petite woman full of spunk and daring-do. I was so impressed I had to find her online and when I got to Facebook, I sent her a friend request and a short message declaring how impressed I was by her live report. And suddenly, voila! A reply! She was online right then. The same woman I saw on TV a few hours earlier! We exchanged messages for a couple hours longer. It seemed I was at my peak of cleverness that evening—even as we slipped into seriousness while discussing the damage from the tornado and the nine people who died.
In that electronic grasp of humanity, we agreed to meet the next day, just to chat over lattés at the Barnes & Noble bookstore half-way between her TV station and where I lived. Our conversation continued as though we had just logged off Facebook a few minutes earlier. Turned out she was almost as new to the city, as I was.But we found each other—at the moment we each needed to find someone. We parted with a cordial hug and an exchange of cell numbers. Later, we started texting. And, the rest is history: We met at the tornado!- Stephen

Please check out all of Stephen's books and, if you haven't yet, order your copy of THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO, hardcover OR Audiobook, out next week!

THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO Karma or Coincidence? Countdown (Becky Kyle)

If you've read this intro already, by all means, skip right down to the guest post!

As many of you know,  THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO , my second novel for young adults officially comes out March 25th from Algonquin Young Readers.

THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO tells the story of almost-16-yr-old Francesca “Beans” “Frankie” Schnell who, four years ago witnessed her baby brother, Simon, drown. Guilty and broken, Francesca has hunkered down in the shadows of her life, resolved to play second fiddle to her dead brother’s memory and to her best friend Lisette, a blonde bubbly beauty Francesca lives vicariously through. That is, until she meets a young boy named Frankie Sky who bears an uncanny resemblance to her brother. Frankie brings humor and hope to Francesca’s life, but are all the similarities between Frankie and Simon merely wishful coincidences, or could he be Simon’s reincarnation?

Curious coincidences abound in THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO —not only the overlaps between Simon and Frankie Sky, but also Bradley’s gift to Francesca, Bradley’s bird sighting, and the ties to the statue of  Saint Florian (sorry, you'll have to read to know what these are ;)). Midway through the story Francesca starts to think these events can’t really all just be coincidences, but maybe are “something bigger and magical at work.”

Have you ever experienced strange events that seemed like more than coincidence and made you wonder if fate was at work or that soul and or reincarnation exist?

Throughout the month, I've decided to pose that question to friends, some writers, others bearing other artistic talents, for a brief account of their own experience with karma, kismet or a mystical connection. I leave you to answer the question,  “Karma or coincidence? Random or something more magical at work?” 

I hope you find these stories as intriguing and lovely as I do.
- gae

Today, I have writer friend and cat enthusiast Becky Kyle, contributor to Ladies of Trade Town and other anthologies, and editor of Tails from the Frontline (Wolfsinger Press, November 2014) telling a story of a near miss and some well-timed fate on Halloween...
Halloween 1998 – We had just moved to Beaverton, Oregon and I was new to the area. I finished a rose latch hook rug for my best friend, who’d lost a family member, and I wanted to find binding for it. It was 3:30 PM and I knew I could just make it around the corner to the Craft Warehouse to get what I needed before the big rush of Intel and Nike employee traffic hit.
I arrived at the Craft Warehouse and was surprised to learn that, while they sold latch hook
rug kits, they did not sell the binding material. 

They suggested I go to Joann’s Crafts, which was about a half-mile away. I figured I still had time to make it before 4:00, but got preoccupied by the staff who had always mostly ignored me before then, but had suddenly taken an interest in my project. 

I rolled the rug out and was pleased to get many compliments from the crew. As a matter of fact, I couldn’t get out of the store – the sales help wanted me to show other customers and as people came in and saw there was a show-and-tell going on, they wanted to see, too.
It was near 4:00 before I could leave Craft Warehouse. I considered the traffic and opted to still head to Joann’s so I could get the rug done and get it out to my friend. As I neared the store, I heard quite a few sirens, but that wasn’t uncommon. This was off 185, which was a very busy street.
When I arrived at the Joann’s, I asked for directions to the area where they sold rug binding. The clerk was quite abrupt and told me I couldn’t get to it. I politely asked if she might get me what I needed. 

She explained that, no, there was now a car where the rug binding was.
When I walked out of the store, sure enough I could see to the other side where a massive 1970’s sedan was sticking out the windows. An elderly woman in her eighties had lost control nd hit the window at full speed. She was at the hospital undergoing emergency treatment. 

The time she’d hit was almost exactly the time I would have arrived at Joann’s if I had set out as soon as I learned the Craft Warehouse did not carry what I needed. If the admirers at Craft Warehouse had not held me back, I would have been standing at the rack in the exact spot where the car had hit and likely would have been killed or seriously injured. 

- Becky 

THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO - Karma or Coincidence? Countdown (Carole Estby Dagg)

If you've read this intro already, please feel free to skip straight down to Carole's post.
As some of you may know,  THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO , my second novel for young adults comes out March 25th from Algonquin Young Readers.


THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO tells the story of almost-16-yr-old Francesca “Beans” “Frankie” Schnell who, four years ago witnessed her baby brother, Simon, drown. Guilty and broken, Francesca has hunkered down in the shadows of her life, resolved to play second fiddle to her dead brother’s memory and to her best friend Lisette, a blonde bubbly beauty Francesca lives vicariously through. That is, until she meets a young boy named Frankie Sky who bears an uncanny resemblance to her brother. Frankie brings humor and hope to Francesca’s life, but are all the similarities between Frankie and Simon merely wishful coincidences, or could he be Simon’s reincarnation?

Curious coincidences abound in THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO —not only the overlaps between Simon and Frankie Sky, but also Bradley’s gift to Francesca, Bradley’s bird sighting, and the ties to the statue of  Saint Florian (you'll have to read to know what these are ;)). Midway through the story Francesca starts to think these events can’t really be coincidences, “but something bigger and magical at work.”

Have you ever experienced strange events that seemed like more than coincidence and made you wonder if fate was at work or that soul and or reincarnation exist?

Throughout the month, I've decided to pose that question to friends, some writers, others bearing other artistic talents, for a brief account of their own experience with karma, kismet or a mystical connection. I leave you to answer the question,  “Random or something magical at work?” 

I hope you find these stories as intriguing and lovely as I do.

- gae


Fellow Class of 2K11 cohort and amazing storyteller, Carole Estby Dagg, tells this story she calls:
Meant to Be
Back in 1950, when I was six years old, my Aunt Thelma convinced a nun to allow me into the room of my dying Great-aunt Clara. I don’t remember much from that long ago, but I do remember tip-toeing down the hall of Sacred Heart Hospital in the wake of the nun’s softly swishing habit, hoping we wouldn’t get caught. Clara was white on white: white hair on white pillowcase, pale face above white sheet, and a body so thin it hardly raised a bump under the blanket. She was sleeping, so I couldn’t talk to her. I just looked and remembered. 
Sixty-one years later, at the launch of my book THE YEAR WE WERE FAMOUS about Great-aunt Clara’s 4,000-mile walk across the country with her mother, I told my cousins about my last visit to Clara. I thought I’d hear how they had also been smuggled in to see Clara one last time.
“But children weren’t allowed on patient floors back in 1950,” one said.
“None of the rest of us got to see her,” another said.
We all got goose bumps. Clara’s own records of the walk had been burned. It’s as if Aunt Thelma knew that someday I would be the one to tell Clara’s story for her so I should have a clear memory of her.

- Carole


Please check out THE YEAR WE WERE FAMOUS, and pre-order your copy of THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO, today, especially from your favorite Indie Bookseller or brick & mortar store.